Recreation, Sport and the Arts 401
Sports Subvention Scheme
The LCSD is solely responsible for distributing grants to NSAs and other sporting organisations and for organising sporting activities. The subvention covers general administration, personnel expenses and spending on programmes by NSAs. Sporting organisations use the subvention mainly for arranging programmes for sports.
During the year, 57 NSAs and 28 sporting organisations were provided with funds amounting to about $150 million by the department. Over 8 100 programmes for different sports were organised by the NSAs and other organisations, attracting over 650 000 participants. Among the most popular programmes were the Youth Football Scheme, the New Generation Table Tennis Training Courses and the Youth Windsurfing Promotion Scheme.
In 2006, the NSAs were given subsidies under the scheme to organise international events in Hong Kong. The events included the Volleyball World Grand Prix, Hong Kong International Dragon Boat Race, Tennis Champions Challenge and ITU Hong Kong International Triathlon. These international events were held also to promote Hong Kong as the 'Events Capital of Asia.'
2008 Olympic and Paralympic Equestrian Events
After the formal announcement of the relocation of the 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Equestrian Events (the Events) to Hong Kong on July 8, 2005, an organising committee Equestrian Committee (Hong Kong) of Beijing Organising Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (Equestrian Committee) was established. The Chief Executive is the patron and the Chief Secretary for Administration, the president of the Equestrian Committee. A steering committee supported by six coordination committees was also set up to help expedite the planning of the events and to facilitate coordination among the different bureaux, departments and non-government agencies involved in organising the events. The executive arm of the Equestrian Committee - the Equestrian Events (Hong Kong) of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad Company Limited (Equestrian Company) — registered under the Companies Ordinance, was formed in February to implement the day-to-day work involved in organising the events in accordance with the Equestrian Committee's decisions and directives. In addition, a trust fund the 2008 Beijing Olympic Equestrian Events Hong Kong Fund was established to raise money to support education, culture and community involvement activities to promote Olympism and the events.
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A document setting out the working arrangement between the Beijing Organising Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government for preparing and organising the events was signed in Beijing on August 31. The BOCOG is responsible for providing funding for direct cost of the events, while HKSAR Government is responsible for providing the institutional framework for organising the events and for such matters as security, medical services, quarantine, immigration, and for cultivating an Olympic atmosphere in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Jockey Club is responsible for the design and construction of the two competition venues with the